Another Coup d'etat? Guinea-Bissau Military Seizes Capital

Explosions blasted through the capital of the small, coup-prone nation of Guinea-Bissau on Thursday as the military sealed off the city's downtown area and lobbed grenades at the prime minister's home, according to a diplomat and witnesses.

The violence comes just weeks before the country's presidential runoff vote, which Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr. was favored to win. There have been fears of a coup ever since Guinea-Bissau's president died of complications from diabetes in January, leaving an interim leader in charge of the chronically unstable country known for cocaine trafficking.

On Thursday, shooting started after the state radio station signal inexplicably went dead. The whereabouts of the nation's interim president, Raimundo Pereira, was unknown.

A military official, who like the diplomat could not be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said that the soldiers had encircled the home of Gomes and were attacking the building with grenades.